Language Barriers
by Ourliazo
Summary: Snippets of Tsuna's time in China as he travels with seven other strangers and their rather colourful personalities. (It was just a pity none of them spoke Japanese. That, and the constantly re-appearing weapons.)
1. Chapter 1

Title: Language Barriers

Summary: Snippets of Tsuna's time in China as he travels with seven other people and their rather colourful personalities.

* * *

Tsuna stumbled into the overnight train as he half carried/half dragged his luggage in front of him and tried to not stub his toe on it. The corridors were narrow, one wall interrupted by windows and the occasional fold-up seat while the other had gaps that lead to four-bed open cabins.

Not ten shuffled steps in, Tsuna is forced to a complete halt, despite the hand of his travelling companion that pressed rather insistently against his back.

"I can't go any further, Hibari-san." Tsuna dropped his luggage at that declaration and tried to peek over everyone's head on his toes.

There was a line forming in front and thanks to the corridor width, it was completely blocked up. People looked annoyed.

Kyoya -a rather terrifying man if Tsuna used the past two days experience as an expected normality- pushed past Tsuna and a few other people with his luggage as a shield, and slid into their compartment.

He reappeared soon after and called out his usual derogatory term of endearment, 'Small Animal.'

It showed just how well trained Tsuna had been, even with the two day limit, that his head immediately snapped up when he heard the words.

Despite not knowing for sure, Tsuna was correct: It was clearly meant to address him, seeing as Kyoya then grabbed the poor man and dragged him down the hallway, liberal use of elbow getting the black haired man angry mutters.

Tsuna squeaked out apologies as he was squished between people, luggage and the cabins' wall from being pulled after Kyoya. Tsuna got a particularly foul look when his suitcase almost sent someone to the floor.

He stumbled into the cabin, taking in the thin bunk beds on both sides and all of the white paint and panelling. Kyoya then made use of his grip, still tight around Tsuna's wrist, to get the Vongola heir's attention before pointing him to the top left bed, waving the ticket as evidence.

Tsuna quickly found the palm-sized plastic rectangle that folded down from the edge of the doorway. It took a bit longer to register that it was a step to climb up.

"Oh, right," he laughed sheepishly, shrinking under the Foundation boss' glare.

A flash of tonfa silver from under Kyoya's coat and Tsuna was sent scrambling onto the upper bunk. Kyoya passed up both suitcases and Tsuna slid them onto the shelf above the door.

The brunet sighed and slumped down onto the thin sheets and crinkling pillow. The only coloured thing in the room caught his eye, and as he stared in curiosity at the small bark blue netting drilled into the wall. A peek across the cabin and the empty bottle of water there made him realise it was storage.

Tsuna rolled on to his stomach, rather surprised that the shelf holding him didn't creak, and peered out of the window at the station platforms.

"Hey, Hibari-san, why aren't people allowed on the platform unless a train is there? It would cut costs on building the waiting lounges in the first place." Tsuna craned his neck to try and find the stairs leading to the waiting lounges but was restricted by how lazy he was feeling.

Kyoya berated him to be quiet with a disgruntled mutter.

"Ah, right. V.I.P lounges get money from customers and so do the stores that are inside." Tsuna nodded, feeling wiser. He knew this trip was a good thing.

A threat to climb up comes from his travelling companion.

Tsuna sighed at the expected reply and planted his face in the cool pillow. He had a break until Reborn came back to Vongola and realized Tsuna had left. Then it would be back to twenty-four/seven Vongola Style Catch-up where the vicious advisor would cram Tsuna's head full of how to run a business. Really, it was getting oppressive, and even Timeoto signed off on this trip with a sympathetic smile.

When Reborn did come back, hopefully the punishment will be lessened considering this trip was actually a way to strengthen ties between Vongola and it ally, the Foundation. Or, that's the excuse.

Tsuna slithered to the edge of the bed and pressed up against the safety bar to peer down at Kyoya's bowed head; the man too tall to sit up properly in case he hit Tsuna's bed. It was rather odd that the boss of the Foundation himself would agree to take Tsuna on a trip around China just to see the man's business ventures.

Shrill chirps sounded from Kyoya's phone and he seemed to take great pleasure in hanging up on the caller. Maybe Kyoya needed a break as well.

A loud bang caused Tsuna to smack his head on the safety bar when he tried to turn. He whimpered and clutched at his head as he rolled away. In his periphery he saw Kyoya who emerged from the bottom bunk and rolled his eyes when he registered Tsuna curled into a foetal position.

A distinctly male voice, heavy with irritation, rang out in the relatively quiet train carriage. The order to move out of his way was met with a mocking silence.

The ache had dissipated to a dull roar, enough that Tsuna could sit up and watch a silver haired man stomp into the cabin. Tsuna vaguely remembered the man's name to be Gokudera Hayato, a short-tempered Italian. The brunet shuffled forwards, allowing his feet to dangle off the side of the bunk when he saw the familiar face.

Hayato crouched to tuck his bag under the bed opposite Kyoya before straightening with a huff and soon caught sight of Tsuna. His face immediately lit up with happiness (and no small amount of hero worship), before he grinned up Tsuna.

"That's pretty lucky, huh, Gokudera-san? Getting the same cabin." Tsuna grinned back, happy to spend more time with the strange man.

Tsuna had been walking beside the silver haired man who slipped off the side of the platform in between carriages and almost fell completely, but Tsuna managed to catch him. Tsuna probably wouldn't have been able to pull the man up without Kyoya's grip around Tsuna's waist, but to Hayato that wasn't important.

Hayato nodded happily in wordless glee, which caused Kyoya to turn and stare at Tsuna accusingly.

"What?" Tsuna asked hesitantly, but a pointed cough interrupted the conversation.

A man with spiked hair dyed purple was standing at the doorway. He took one look at Tsuna and smiled like a predator who found prey with a limp. Tsuna pulled up his legs onto the bed and leaned away - he could almost feel the aura from the strangely coloured man. That was dye, right?

"H-hello," Tsuna stuttered out.

That shark's grin only widened. The purple man introduces himself as Mukuro with his patent manipulative flare, kindly asking if Tsuna would mind terribly if he swapped cabins. 'I want to be in the same room as my sister,' Mukuro said, explaining that he was only a few doors down. With an earnest look on his face, Mukuro claimed, 'It's Chrome's first time on a sleeping train so she might be scared.'

Hayato refused immediately and screamed at the newcomer to leave his Tsuna alone.

Kyoya snapped in rapid fire for Hayato and Mukuro to, 'Both shut up and leave.' He brandished his tonfa and both men puffed up, reaching for hidden _somethings_ that Tsuna really hoped weren't weapons.

A purple haired woman poked her head into the cabin then and told Mukuro she would be fine. Mukuro glanced back at her she repeated herself slower. He nodded and they both left.

Kyoya and Hayato started simmering down but still glared at each other.

Tsuna just sat there, really confused as to what was happening. After all, he didn't understand any language other than Japanese.

* * *

A/N:

They all speak different languages, which are;

 **Tsuna- Japanese**

 **Kyoya- Chinese**

 **Hayato- Italian**

 **Mukuro- Afrikaans**

 **Chrome- Dutch**

Depending on the point of view, all other languages will be shown 'like this'.

It isn't a one-shot and all of these stories will be rather random, all connected and chronological unless specified otherwise. It'll span quite a few chapters (twenty and counting) but they'll be short (as in: don't ever expect this length again).


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Language Barriers

Summary: Snippets of Tsuna's time in China as he travels with seven other people and their rather colourful personalities.

* * *

Hayato growled quietly, still hyped up on adrenalin from the near fight. How dare that bastard waltz in and try to… do something - how dare that bastard waltz in!

Tsuna and that Hibari fellow didn't seem to understand the spiky Blueberry, and while Hayato managed to catch around three words, the main point of the speech escaped him too. Therefore, it was kind of difficult to muster up anger at the stranger, but Hayato managed.

"No worries, Tsuna. I scared him off!" Hayato declared happily as he slid around Kyoya and beamed up at the brunet, receiving a pat on the head and a smile.

Tsuna saw a wagging tail behind Hayato and automatically praised him like Tsuna would with Natsu. It was strange but the silver haired man reminded him of the lion cub when Natsu brought dead things to him and expected treats. For that matter, Kyoya reminded him of Natsu too.

A grunt made them turn to Kyoya, only to see him watching the hall way with an intensity that spoke of death.

Only then Hayato registered the loud arguing further down the train cabin. A peek into the hallway showed that the earlier pile up had disappeared but a small group of people were clustered further down, with a train guard trying to keep the peace. The situation was probably why the train still hadn't left the station.

Kyoya strode out past him and straight into the thick of it, the presence making the crowd scatter like leaves in the wind. Vaguely terrified leaves in a homicidal wind.

Hayato heard Tsuna sigh as he dropped down from the bed and slid past too, muttering about stopping any defenestration.

Well, it's going to be a party then, Hayato mused, following the brown puffball of hair that bobbed when Tsuna took a step.

Kyoya was speaking rapid fire Chinese, vicious enough that it made the five others physically lean backwards as the train guard silently nope'd out of there. Unfortunately, after the surprise had worn off the adults snapped back at him.

Brave morons.

Hayato muttered a prayer he picked up from somewhere and crossed himself, which first made Tsuna giggle and then try to appear disappointed.

Tsuna stepped up beside Kyoya and provided a steady reminder that no, it's not the appropriate time or place to beat anyone into submission, nor is there a place to hide the body.

Hayato debated ushering Tsuna back into their cabin. The nice white shirt he was wearing would hold onto blood too well.

Just as Hayato was reaching out, a man poked his head out from a cabin next to him and lazily inquired what all of the killing intent was about. Hayato took in the wavy black hair, one closed eye and a cow print shirt.

"Russian?" Hayato murmured in response and received a look of confusion that slowly shifted to understanding.

The man introduced himself as Lambo and took a half-hearted guess at Hayato's language, slumped against the doorway while he kept an eye on the commotion.

"Italian, yeah, but I can manage some broken Russian," he admitted. 'The cabin had been double booked,' Hayato explained in Russian.

A different train guard returned with some papers and joined the conversation.

The silver haired man listened for a bit more and told Lambo that the train guard was going to show them to empty spots.

Lambo nodded and thanked Hayato, before he retreated with a tired stumble back into his cabin.

Kyoya herded Tsuna behind him when the arguing grew, gaining Hayato's reluctant respect. Tsuna stared at the Foundation boss' back and then shot Hayato a look of confusion.

The Italian cocked his head to the side and frowned at how ridiculous the complaints were. None of them wanted to leave, intent on the opinion that _they were here first_.

Hayato hated it when stupid people had opinions.

This train guard gave up as well, leaving the papers inside the cabin before he walked away. Hayato wanted to do the same, but he wouldn't leave Tsuna and Tsuna wouldn't leave Kyoya.

A sigh escaped him. He just had to put off restocking his dynamite, didn't he?

* * *

A/N:

 **Tsuna- Japanese**

 **Kyoya- Chinese**

 **Hayato- Italian (and a 7 year old kids understanding of a few others)**

 **Mukuro- Afrikaans**

 **Chrome- Dutch**

 **Lambo- Russian**

Depending on the point of view, all other languages will be shown 'like this'.

 **Expletive deleted** 's review made me laugh so I'm like _yeah, I'll update_. Plus, I can't wait until I can pour on the fluff. You're going to be wishing for a character death by the end of this.


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Language Barriers

Summary: Snippets of Tsuna's time in China as he travels with seven other people and their rather colourful personalities.

* * *

The train jerked as it began to pull away from the station, startling Tsuna enough that he face-planted into Hibari's back.

Hibari, riled up enough at the argument that his fingers were caressing phantom cool metal, simply grabbed Tsuna by the back of his shirt and tossed him through the doorway of the nearest cabin before turning back to the crowding herbivores.

"Hiiieeeeee!"

Hayato blinks at the airborne form of Tsuna and promptly freaks the fuck out, lunging to catch the man but misjudging greatly in his panic and ramming head-first into the wall.

Turns out Hayato shouldn't have bothered because while Tsuna is sent flailing, he falls on one of the beds instead of on a corner or the floor, landing with an oof on a hard lump under the quilt.

The lump rose in a jerk and Tsuna was rolled off onto the floor. The man -for it was a man, not a lump- sat up and smashed his head on the bed above in a truly cringe-worthy thunk, but he didn't seem to notice. He then screams out, 'Extreme!', to no one in particular but with a truly admirable intensity for a person who was rudely awoken by having a man flung onto them. He pumps his fist in the air, barely missing punching the bed above, and giving a demonstration of how big the muscles on a boxer are.

'Wow, that must have hurt,' called down a friendly voice from the bed above, with a small laugh tacked on at the end. The man on the upper bunk was tall, having to curl up to fit on the shelf, with short black hair and a wide smile. 'I felt the bed jump,' he explained and then cocked his head to the side in curiosity. 'Who are you?' he asked Tsuna.

"I don't speak Chinese, I'm sorry," Tsuna managed, eyes wide at being addressed by someone who was caressing a baseball bat. He wasn't ecstatic with landing on someone who could break him in half over their knee, either.

'I can't understand Chinese,' the man on the upper bunk said sheepishly with a grin.

'My name is Ryohei,' the white haired man declared loudly in Mandarin.

Hayato finally staggered in, rubbing his forehead with a grimace. 'Don't worry,' he reassured Tsuna. 'When I get more dynamite the first thing I'll do us take out the violent bastard for daring to throw you.'

'My name is Ryohei,' the white haired man declared once again, evidently the only foreign words he knew.

The man on the upper bunk announced his name to be Takeshi with the same awkward pronunciation as Ryohei, except in Cantonese, obviously having learnt it off Google translate.

"I don't understand what's happening," Tsuna admitted, understanding the basic sentences from Ryohei and Takeshi but now even more confused as to the conversation beforehand. He's not exactly upset about it though, as this is around the same level of understanding he and Kyoya have. 'I'm Tsuna,' he tried in Mandarin, then again in Cantonese, before finally in Changsha just because he could.

'And I'm trying to sleep,' groaned another lump in the bed opposite Takeshi. 'Nice to meet you.'

'You shut up,' Hayato snapped at the Russian before tuning on Ryohei and Takeshi. 'Those accents were pathetic - if you're going to speak do it properly, don't gargle,' Hayato berated. 'You were perfect, Tsuna.'

The brunet smiled for lack of anything else to do in the face of Italian.

Takeshi asked for Hayato's name.

'I think that's Korean,' Hayato mused. 'And what about you, Turf-top, I doubt you're Chinese since we're apparently playing Hetalia.'

Ryohei announced his extremeness, declared everyone in the cabin extreme, and demanded an extreme boxing match.

Hayato's muttered comment about insane Germans was interrupted by the loud thump of an Herbivore who got slammed into a wall.

"Hibari-san, no!" Tsuna cried and darted around Hayato who had thrown his arms out to block Tsuna from entering the danger zone. Tsuna stumbled to a halt at the sight of bodies littering the train floor and briefly wondered how he managed to miss the slaughter.

Kyoya glanced over hi shoulder with a raised eyebrow.

* * *

A/N:

 **Tsuna- Japanese**

 **Kyoya- Chinese**

 **Hayato- Italian (and a 7 year old kids understanding of a few others)**

 **Mukuro- Afrikaans**

 **Chrome- Dutch**

 **Lambo- Russian**

 **Ryohei- German**

 **Takeshi- Korean**

Depending on the point of view, all other languages will be shown 'like this'.

 **Poll: Pairings?**

Kyoya-4

Oblivious Tsuna/none-2

 **Meh** \- I was completely set on Ryohei being German ever since I've started this, for those exact reasons ;)

 **Xcer** – I learned that Chinese was an overall term for the dialects/languages like Mandarin, Cantonese and Shanghainese, etc. (And it's simpler to say Chinese instead of specifying. Excuse my laziness in future chapters :D)

 **Toraffles** – Chrome isn't actually Mukuro's sister. Their relationship is complicated but the closest word for it is sister, so they use that for simplicities sake. They speak different languages because they don't know each other's, but Dutch and Afrikaans are close enough that it's understandable. Kyoya doesn't understand Tsuna; Chinese does have written characters that mix with Korean and Japanese but there's no spoken words that cross the languages.


	4. Chapter 4

Title: Language Barriers

Summary: Snippets of Tsuna's time in China as he travels with seven other people and their rather colourful personalities.

* * *

"Hibari-san, it's not okay for you to just assault people," Tsuna protested, scanning the heap of bodies on the floor to find any conscious. A twitch from one made him think that there were a few playing dead. Tsuna approved their tactic.

Hibari scoffed at Tsuna's worried tone. 'The herbivores were noisy and crowding,' he sneered, not offering an explanation that was in any part logical.

Tsuna sighed, just knowing that his fellow boss wasn't going to apologise for the mess (and casual disregard of human decency).

A low whistle came from Takeshi as the tall Korean poked his head out of the cabin. 'Wow, that's an intense game,' he laughed. 'I'm almost convinced they're unconscious.'

Takeshi is soon joined by the white haired man. 'Is this an extreme boxing match?' roared the German. 'You all need to extremely join my boxing gym!'

'Not on your life,' Hayato snapped. He stepped up beside Tsuna and hooked an arm around the brunet. 'Come on Tsuna, let's get away from these freaks.'

From the end of the carriage came a disturbing laugh.

Tsuna whipped around and blinked at the siblings. "Purple one and purple two," he blurted out, then clapped a hand over his mouth at how rude that sounded.

They approached, stepping gracefully over the victims of Hibari's wrath. 'Hibari, was it?' the male drawled while the female fiddled with a trident charm attached to her bracelet.

Tsuna wasn't even paying attention to the stare off, too busy considering if he should call for help and get the people a medical professional. If he had been paying attention, he would have flailed his way to Hibari and distracted the man with questions about Hibird. As it so happened, he was far too late to notice, and Hibari was already throwing himself forward with an eager grin.

"Hieeeee!" echoes through the carriages either side, turning some heads but the people dismiss the sound as the train.

* * *

Lambo blinked sleepily, eyes flickering back and forth to follow the battling pair. "What are they fighting about?" he asked no one in particular.

Hayato is too busy wrestling a frazzled Tsuna back into Lambo's cabin to reply, the brunet babbling about '-damages and law suits and _Hibari-san please stop stepping on the unconscious people!'_

Takeshi chuckled and patted Lambo on the head, ruffling the black waves of hair. 'I have no idea,' he said cheerfully but then his smile sharpened and his grip tightened on Lambo's skull. 'I don't know, but I want to join in.'

A groan of despair left Tsuna when Takeshi magicked his bat down from the top bed and leapt into the fray.

Mukuro smirked at the newcomer, slashing his trident at the man. His smirk quickly disappeared when the bat turned into a sword, the overhead lights reflecting off the well cared for weapon and in turn aiming it into Mukuro's eyes. A blink and Mukuro was backed against the wall, barely managing to lift his trident to block the downward swing.

Kyoya darted in then, stomping a foot down on Takeshi's knee, tonfa aimed for the throat of both fighters. Mukuro twisted sharply and grunted when the metal connected with his shoulder, his trident still locked with the katana. Takeshi took the hit to the knee and dropped down, rolling out of the way of tonfa.

A cry of amazement came from Ryohei, who had been shadow boxing on the side, and the German finally lost control of his patience, diving into the fray with his usual cry, 'Extreme!'

Hayato bit his lip and fingers pressed further into Tsuna's waist as he wished he had dynamite. Tsuna wriggled harder in Hayato's hold, wincing at every blow the insane battle maniacs exchanged.

Lambo stopped caring then and turned to head back to bed, but spotted Chrome sitting on the bottom bunk, and wondered how she snuck past him considering he was at the cabin doorway the entire time.

The train started slowing, about to pull into the station. Lambo watched the window as a field of green turned to houses and roads which turned to concrete of a platform and police lined up along the station.

"So is that normal?" Lambo questioned.

Tsuna glanced over when Lambo spoke and his expression blanked at the sight of police, but the Russian could see the desperate hope that the fighting four weren't the reason for the law enforcement.

Lambo wished him luck with the delusion.

* * *

Kyoya noticed the Small Animal's despair, a trickle of amusement seeped into his mind from it, but focused on the three Herbivores who thought to challenge him. It was not their fault; they were young, and stupid.

Kyoya still won't go easy on them.

He ducked the loudest Herbivore's punch and retaliated by gripping the long end of his tonfa and hooked the handle around the smiling Herbivore's sword so it swung at the loud one's stomach. They both just managed to move enough so the sword didn't slice up the loud one's entrails and Kyoya felt disappointed. It would have been funny to see the Small Animal's reaction then.

'My, my,' the Blueberry chuckled. 'How terribly violent of you. Perhaps Fluffy would be better off with me.'

Kyoya gripped his tonfa tighter and snarled at the audacity of the Dodo Bird in front of him.

"Fluffy is mine," he snapped out before discharging the spikes on his weapon.

However, before they could move the carriage door slammed open and police swarmed in.

They stop dead at the sight of Kyoya.

"H-Hibari!" one cried out, flapping his hand at another, one who turned tail and sprinted for the supervisor. "Sir, we didn't know it was you."

"Now that you do, leave," Kyoya ordered, annoyed that he was interrupted.

The police flinched back, the few closest to the door backing away. Another entered then, and Kyoya was getting pissed at the crowding. The Foundation armband on the newest one made the police part.

"My deepest apologies, Hibari. We didn't know it was you. We'll take the people and go."

Kyoya followed the woman's gaze to the floor and blinked at the bodies there. He nodded in allowance and stepped away from the cleaners who rushed in.

He glanced over his shoulder into the cabin of the annoying Blueberry and raised an eyebrow at the Small Animal's exasperated expression. It's like he wasn't expecting Kyoya to own the police force as well. The Small Animal was adorably naive.

...

Tsuna watched in resigned silence as the bodies were taken away and he was left in a half empty carriage with unsuspecting civilians and a bunch of insane psychopaths.

The police left soon enough and Tsuna sighed, not even caring he was sitting in Hayato lap. He watched Takeshi's eyes narrow and Ryohei take up a stance while Mukuro spun his trident and Kyoya rolled his shoulders.

No.

They barely caught an orange blur in their periphery, and then it was lights out.

* * *

A/N:

 **Tsuna- Japanese**

 **Kyoya- Chinese**

 **Hayato- Italian (and a 7 year old kids understanding of a few others)**

 **Mukuro- Afrikaans**

 **Chrome- Dutch**

 **Lambo- Russian**

 **Ryohei- German**

 **Takeshi- Korean**

Depending on the point of view, all other languages will be shown 'like this'.

 **Poll:** pairings?

Kyoya- 7

Oblivious Tsuna/none- 3

Hayato- 1

Mukuro- 1

Chrome- 1


	5. Chapter 5

Title: Language Barriers

Summary: Snippets of Tsuna's time in China as he travels with seven other people and their rather colourful personalities.

* * *

Ryohei woke slowly, a bit groggy but comfortable nonetheless. He opened his eyes and blinked up at the bed above him. He turned to look around and found that there wasn't anyone in the cabin. He started sitting up but the blankets pulled and shifted around him, and he found he didn't want to leave the cocoon of warmth.

Was he… tucked in? He lifted his head and saw that yes, he was. He smiled, feeling nostalgic. He really missed Kyoko, but she was back in Germany while he was touring China to look for fighters to train with.

Well, he guessed he would have to train hard and get back as soon as possible because not only did he have Kyoko waiting for him, he also had a boxing gym to run and a championship to win. A smile spread across his face.

He would make sure that this time someone trustworthy would handle his drug test so it won't get switched for a positive one. He wouldn't get disqualified in the semi-finals this time - after all he had promised to Kyoko, who had looked so sad.

'Ah, Ryohei,' Takeshi said happily, stepping into the cabin. 'We were all getting worried. Tsuna will be very glad you're awake.'

Tsuna? Oh, that's right. The last thing he remembered was eyes of fire.

"Tsuna is very extreme," Ryohei said in admiration, tossing the blankets off and sitting hunched so he wouldn't hit the top bunk. "He should join my boxing gym." Talent like that shouldn't go to waste.

Takeshi nodded. 'Yeah, Tsuna was very worried. He said he didn't mean to hit you that hard but you looked so strong so he might have put in a bit too much force.' Takeshi laughed a bit as he repeated Hayato's translation but without the muttered comments in between of how they were all idiots and shouldn't have made Tsuna act in the first place.

Takeshi quickly reached up to his bed for a camera and grinned, beckoning Ryohei to follow. 'C'mon, they're in the other room.'

Ryohei stood and followed the tall Korean three gaps down to the cabin and paused in the door way. There were four of them twisted into complicated knots as they struggled to stay on the coloured circles scattered over every surface of the cabin. Lambo heckled from the top left bunk, while Kyouya was situated next to the Russian and spun the arrow to dictate where the players would almost kill themselves straining for next.

The lowest one appeared to be Hayato, the poor man in a push up position from his two hands on the two spots furthest from the door and his feet on the two closest. A groan of pain escaped the silver haired man as Mukuro cursed and tried to inch the spot closer because his leg was cramping from where his foot was under the Italian, his three other limbs collected on three spots very close together.

Tsuna had one foot balanced on the window, one on the fold out table under the window and was bent over in a bridge, arching diagonally over Hayato's head and Mukuro's back to land by Chrome's hands. The girl of the group was quite obviously winning, despite doing a one handed handstand with her feet on the top bunk opposite Lambo and the other hand on the bottom bunk.

Takeshi immediately started snapping pictures.

Lambo snuck in and stole a red circle. All of the players groaned, muttering their hatred in different languages. Ryohei couldn't help but laugh. Perhaps a bit too loudly because some of the people in the cabin startled. Ryohei reminded himself to tone it down – just because his hearing wasn't fully developed didn't mean everyone was the same.

Tsuna appeared to light up at the sight of him, or perhaps that was the blood rushing to the man's face. 'Ryohei! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hit you that hard. Are you okay? No dizziness?'

"Tsuna, you must definitely join my boxing gym, you're extremely extreme!" Ryohei praised.

The people paused for a bit then Lambo translated to Russian and Hayato took over from there, speaking in Korean and finally Takeshi spoke to Tsuna in rather broken Japanese.

'Oh!' Tsuna cried in understanding. 'Definitely, I'll come and visit your home.'

Ryohei took the nodding as assent to his question instead of the diluted end result from the string of translations and grinned widely.

'Left hand, yellow,' Kyouya ordered in English.

Chrome passed it on to Mukuro in Dutch and the purple haired man debated for a moment. The only yellow free was under the bottom bunk opposite Mukuro, who wouldn't be able to reach that far considering he was partly pressed into the gap under the table. He really regretted making the others cut out the rule that you could share circles, but in his defence the Skylark started it.

'My apologies,' he murmured. 'But I will not lose this.' Mukuro lifted his hand and oh so accidentally bumped into Tsuna, knocking the man's hand off balance and sending him toppling onto Hayato with a yelp, as well as making Chrome collapse from her arm being hit. The three landed in a large pile and Mukuro wiggled his foot out from under the crushed Italian.

Takeshi darted in and helped them up. The four stretched out their limbs and sighed in relief at the sore muscles loosening. No one seemed to notice Chrome's glare apart from Ryohei, but then everyone was too busy glaring at Mukuro, because they all knew he wouldn't have made it so he deliberately knocked Tsuna over.

Kyouya leapt down from the top bed and shoved the chart at Chrome, prepared to play. Takeshi gave his camera to Mukuro and Tsuna coaxed Lambo down and climbed up while Hayato escaped for some proper stretches in the hallway.

Takeshi, Ryohei, Kyouya and Lambo looked expectantly at Chrome for instructions. The woman's smile inched into Mukuro territory and they wondered if they made a mistake.

* * *

A/N:

 **Tsuna- Japanese**

 **Kyoya- All Chinese dialects, English**

 **Hayato- Italian, Universal, English, Mandarin, French. Non-fluent in Russian, Korean, Greek, Spanish. In the process of learning Japanese for Tsuna**

 **Mukuro- Afrikaans, Italian**

 **Chrome- Dutch, English**

 **Lambo- Russian, German, Polish**

 **Ryohei- German**

 **Takeshi- Korean. Non-fluent in Japanese**

Depending on the point of view, all other languages will be shown 'like this'.

I was going to add languages as I go so I can cheat but whatever.

 **Poll** : Pairings?

Kyoya- 11

Oblivious Tsuna- 2

No pairings- 3

All- 1

Hayato- 2

Mukuro- 1

Chrome- 1

Reborn- 1


	6. Chapter 6

Title: Language Barriers

Summary: Snippets of Tsuna's time in China as he travels with seven other people and their rather colourful personalities.

.

* * *

As soon as the sun had set, Takeshi decided that ghost stories were an excellent way to pass the time, and shooed everyone into his cabin.

Tsuna disagreed, but everyone took his rapid babble and head shaking as excitement, especially after Takeshi 'translated' for Tsuna.

Tsuna reminds himself to watch that Korean man closely.

Tsuna hated ghost stories. Oh, sure he was a grown adult, but he always screamed at horror movies and wouldn't dare move around the house at midnight without all the lights on. Who would with the threat of spindly demonic creatures?

No one smart, that's who.

So he chose his position wisely, taking the seat on the bottom bunk and in between Mukuro and Hibari, the two most terrifying people he knew (disregarding Reborn on a bad day without his espresso). No one would be able to get past them, right?

In addition, Hayato was on Hibari's other side and Takeshi was opposite the Italian on the other bottom bunk. Those two would guard the doorway. Tsuna breathed deeply, seeing Chrome and Lambo opposite do the same.

Unfortunately for Tsuna, Mukuro was the one who volunteered first, and he was a very good story teller, because even though none of the words made sense for most, the man switched voices and made unbelievably real sound effects, like how ribs broke under pressure. He knew just how to influence a crowd.

'But as the widow turned away,' Mukuro started, voice dropped to a low whisper that made them lean forward.

Abruptly Mukuro roared, jerking forward at the two opposite. Chrome and Lambo slammed themselves backwards and hit the cabin wall, eyes wide and screams caught in their throats. Mukuro followed them, planting one knee on the edge on the bunk and snatching up Lambo's ankle.

The man stifled a whimper and immediately clung to Chrome as he was pulled ever so slowly to Mukuro.

'She screamed as loud as she could for help, but it never came,' Mukuro said in a taunting voice, the light-hearted tone so far from the man's blank, dead expression that it froze Lambo completely, even paralysing his lungs, and by the time he reached the end out the bed Mukuro was less than centimetres from his face.

'They never found her again,' Mukuro crooned with a perfectly stoic mask. Then he grinned.

'Stop!' Lambo yelled. 'Stop, stop, stop!' He broke away from Mukuro's loose hold and leap up onto the bunk above, startling Ryohei awake.

'Whuh...?' The German muttered sleepily, jet lag messing with his circadian rhythm.

'I hate you, you're such a bastard!' Lambo snapped, pushing Ryohei towards the safety bar so he could provide a meat shield.

Mukuro laughed, that strange amused chuckle, and turned to the rest. Takeshi, who had been beside Chrome, was absolutely riveted.

Tsuna, Hibari and Hayato had three completely different reactions. Hayato was muttering about UMA's or something while Hibari looked bored and Tsuna was half way passed out from terror.

'Wow, Mukuro that was great!' Takeshi cried in glee. 'But I won't lose this, I got an even better story.'

Mukuro gesture for the Korean to take the floor.

Takeshi's eyes hardened and his smile grew a bit too sharp.

Chrome did the smart thing and fled to the other Cabin, Lambo tagging along as he gave Mukuro a wide berth, and Ryohei sleepily stumbled after them, finally giving up on staying awake.

Tsuna gulped.

* * *

Tsuna winced at the ripping motions Takeshi made with his hands and pressed closer to Hibari's side. Hayato had moved to sit by Takeshi so the three had more room, but Tsuna would have much preferred some more people around him.

Mukuro snickered at the gestures Takeshi made and Tsuna shot a glance at the man beside him. He just knew the spiky Blueberry would do something.

'It's not going to work,' Takeshi said in a convincing woman's voice. 'It's just a stupid legend, he won't come.' The Korean paused then and Tsuna tensed for the jump scare.

'But they all heard his walking stick,' Takeshi whispered and made that horrible noise again that would follow Tsuna into his nightmares. 'chik...chik...chik...'

Mukuro leaned over to the brunet entranced with the story, pausing right next to the man's ear. 'chik-chik-chik!'

"Hieeee!" Tsuna threw himself at Hibari because he knew Hibari would bite anything to death, military ghost with a grudge from its leg being blown up or no.

In a second he was in Hibari lap, one foot on Mukuro's thigh to keep him away and another having been caught in the man's hand when Tsuna tried to kick out at the ghost.

The cabin burst out into laughter, and Hibari smirked even as he pushed Tsuna off and onto the floor.

He pouts up at them but jolts in fear when he hears a walking stick tapping outside the door. He chooses better this time and climbs onto Hayato's lap instead.

* * *

.

A/N:

 **Languages**

Tsuna (Japanese) – Hibari (All Chinese dialects, English) – Hayato (Italian, Universal, English, Mandarin, French. Non-fluent in Russian, Korean, Greek, Spanish. In the process of learning Japanese for Tsuna)

Mukuro (Afrikaans, Italian) – Chrome (Dutch, English) – Lambo (Russian, German, Polish) – Ryohei (German) – Takeshi (Korean. Non-fluent in Japanese)

 **Poll: Pairings?**

Kyoya- 20

All- 6

Reborn- 5

Mukuro- 4

Oblivious Tsuna- 3

No pairings- 3

Hayato- 2

Chrome- 1


	7. Chapter 7

Title: Language Barriers

Summary: Snippets of Tsuna's time in China as he travels with seven other people and their rather colourful personalities.

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* * *

Kyouya wasn't able to sleep that night.

He lay awake on the train's bed and stared up at the hard sheet of metal above him with hands laced together on his stomach. The lights are completely out, and everyone is asleep. Even the train's staff have stopped patrolling up and down with small flash lights.

The carriage rocks ever so slightly with the movement of the train and the open curtains allow for a bright moon to shine through softly, bathing the cabin in a gentle white glow.

The only thing to be heard inside is the soft breathing and the occasional shuffle of sheets. From outside comes the quiet rumble, barely a low purr, of the train itself as it rolls along the tracks.

Kyouya blinked and stifled the urge to cover his ears like he'd been doing ever since the herbivores retired for the night.

Everything is too noisy because it's not noisy enough.

In the daylight, when Kyouya is surrounded by people, the noise level is loud enough that he can force it to the back of his mind as unimportant white noise.

Now, when it was so quiet, every shift and breath seemed like it was screaming and demanding attention. He got so used to the quiet that his instincts jerked at his mind and told him that something different was occurring so he should pay attention.

The Italian on the bunk across rolled slightly and the sheets screeched as they slid against the man's clothes.

Kyouya tensed and stayed tightly wound until the after echoes of that painful noise faded. When he slumped, his whole body was throbbing lightly in pain.

The train hit a particular bit of track that made the wheels softly hiss and Kyouya tensed again.

The whole process repeated every time his overly sensitive senses picked up on a disturbance in the quiet, and he was so close to just climbing onto the roof of the cabin and sitting there for the rest of the night.

Suddenly the Vongola Decimo above him sat up with a gasp.

Kyouya's control broke and he slammed his hands over his ears to try and stop the noise from reaching him.

'Hibari-san?' the man on the top bunk whispered quietly.

Kyouya took a deep breath and pressed his hands harder against his head. He managed to shift so he was lying on his hands when the herbivore tipped his head over the edge.

* * *

Tsuna frowned at the sleeping man and glanced to the doorway. The horror stories were still repeating over in his head. Eventually he decided and slipped out of his bed. He climbed down the small step near the cabin opening and gently lifted a side of the bed sheet covering the Foundation boss.

He tensed when the man shifted slightly but relaxed again and ever so slowly slid underneath...

A hand shot out from under Kyouya's head and grabbed a fistful of Tsuna's collar, jerking the man onto the bed as Kyouya rolled so his back was facing the wall and he had Tsuna in his arms.

'Just go to sleep,' Kyouya murmured softly into Tsuna's shoulders. 'Please just go to sleep.'

Tsuna heard the quiet mumble and managed to translate 'sleep'. He nodded slightly even when Kyouya couldn't see, and slumped into the arms around him. It was so nice and warm.

* * *

Kyouya clenched his fists where they were resting just against the herbivore's stomach.

The heart beat was so loud.

He dug his nails in harder and felt his own blood starting to coat his fingers.

It wasn't only the rush of blood - even from where Kyouya was lightly resting his forehead against the herbivores back, he was able to discern the push of air in and out of the lungs.

Th-thump

In

Th-thump

Out

Th-thump

In

* * *

And somehow, Kyouya fell asleep, lulled by the rhythm of life that circulated through the man in his arms.

* * *

Tsuna woke in the morning, having completely forgotten he even had a nightmare last night, and glanced around to see that Hayato and Chrome were still asleep. It took a while for his sleep fogged brain to realise that his bed was actually supposed to be a top bunk.

So why was he on the bottom?

Memories clicked back into place and Tsuna carefully didn't move a muscle. He can't believe he thought it was a good idea to _climb into Kyouya's bed_. How was he not dead yet?

Actually... why wasn't he dead?

He rolled his head in increments until he was looking over his shoulder. Kyouya was breathing deeply, face relaxed in sleep. The man had rolled over onto his back (as much as he could have considering how narrow the beds were) and despite the arm trapped under Tsuna, he looked peaceful.

Tsuna wasn't going anywhere soon unless he wanted to wake the man up and get beaten bloody by those tonfa. Well, he wouldn't say no to more sleep.

Tsuna closed his eyes and pressed his back into Kyouya's side for more warmth. He was asleep in seconds.

* * *

Both of them were awoken by the sound of a camera and a 'whoops' in Korean.

Kyouya was out of bed in a second flat, hair mussed but tonfa ready to go. Takeshi laughed in the face of his actual death and sprinted form the cabin with Hayato and Ryohei hot on his heels.

Kyouya followed with his catch phrase and a gush of blood lust.

Tsuna took much longer to roll out of bed, but managed to mumble a greeting back at the Russian he passed on the way to the bathroom. He almost fell into the sink as he was brushing his teeth but a scream of pain woke him up just in time for Tsuna to catch his balance.

He mentally reminded himself to thank Hayato as he continued brushing.

* * *

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A/N:

And that's what happens when a character comes first in the poll – they get to sleep with Tsuna.

* * *

 **Languages**

Tsuna (Japanese) – Hibari (All Chinese dialects, English) – Hayato (Italian, Universal, English, Mandarin, French. Non-fluent in Russian, Korean, Greek, Spanish. In the process of learning Japanese for Tsuna)

Mukuro (Afrikaans, Italian) – Chrome (Dutch, English) – Lambo (Russian, German, Polish) – Ryohei (German) – Takeshi (Korean. Non-fluent in Japanese)

 **Pairings Poll** (on my profile or review):Kyouya coming first at - 20


	8. Chapter 8

Title: Language Barriers

Summary: Snippets of Tsuna's time in China as he travels with seven other people and their rather colourful personalities.

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* * *

After Kyouya took his revenge for being awoken, he disappeared into the food carriage.

It took a while for the rest to gather the courage to follow - or at least talk about following. Tsuna volunteered to go instead and Hayato couldn't let his friend go alone, so the two took orders and left the rest to guard the luggage.

After a quick breakfast of simple fruit, Kyouya pulled down his and Tsuna's suitcases in preparation to leave. Hayato quickly grabbed his as well and Tsuna blinked in shock when everyone did the same.

He had completely forgotten to ask where everyone was getting off. He grinned brightly at everyone, incredibly happy that he got to spend more time with them.

Kyouya rolled his eyes.

* * *

'Hello, Shanghai!'

People shuffled away from the screaming German who just alighted.

They slipped off the train, able to stay together through the mass of the crowd by picking out strange hair colours of purple, silver and white or by finding Takeshi who stood a good head above the crowd.

Kyouya refused to put up with crowding more than he absolutely had to so he moved to the other side of the platform, where the mass of people was lessened significantly, and the rest followed.

They made sure to keep Tsuna in between them and Kyouya as a first line of defence as well as stay a good distance from the Chinese man, especially since Takeshi was still prodding gently at his ribs because of what happened that morning.

The platform cleared quickly, leaving only a trickle of people. Just as Kyouya was about to grab the handle of his luggage and leave, a man walked up to them, wheeling a trolley in front - the kind you see in airports for suitcases.

'Luggage?' asked the porter in stuttering English.

'Yes! Hello!' Ryohei cried back, not understanding English at all.

'Luggage?' the porter repeated, clearly not able to speak German.

'Hello!'

'We're going to be here a while,' muttered Lambo, lowering the handle on his luggage and sitting on it.

Chrome had her phone out to record it and Mukuro was gesturing over another porter to join in. Kyouya, on the other hand, was the only one doing something productive, dragging off his and Tsuna's luggage to the stairs. He then came back for Tsuna and dragged him off.

Hayato rushed after them and the rest decided they would join as well since they enjoyed each other's company (when it didn't involve twister).

They got to the stairs only to find Kyouya already at the bottom and glaring up at Tsuna who was holding onto the side handle of his suit case and stumbling down the stairs.

Hayato quickly ran down the steps to help, his own luggage held awkwardly from the size. As the others shrugged and picked up their suitcases a man suddenly dropped into stride beside Chrome.

'Is it heavy?' he asked politely in perfect English.

'Oh! Umm-' Chrome stuttered.

Before she could get an answer out the man grabbed the handle on the top since Chrome was using the side one and they both walked down the stairs, sharing the weight.

'Thanks,' Chrome said shyly.

Mukuro glared daggers into the back of the man's head right up until he parted from Chrome at the bottom of the steps. They walked a short distance down a tunnel and then down some more stairs.

'Is it heavy?' a kind woman asked Chrome.

They all blinked in shock as Chrome stuttered out the exact same words, far too identical to be just a coincidence. Chrome threw a smirk over her shoulder at them, clearly smug.

'That sly little...' Lambo mumbled, rather impressed.

Mukuro looked proud even though he still glared at the unknown woman.

The last set of stairs lead down to a parking garage area where taxis and buses would arrive to pick up passengers. A sleek black limousine was waiting and Kyouya headed straight for it.

Tsuna looked back to the rest who were pouting. He turned to Kyouya and made his eyes as big as they could go, sticking out his bottom lip and clasping hands in front of him shyly. The hunched shoulders finished off the technique, and when Kyouya turned to order Tsuna inside, he froze.

Suddenly Chrome was peeking over Tsuna's shoulder, her puppy eyes devastating, and Lambo joined in on Tsuna's free shoulder, the rest of them huddling into a group hug as they stared pitifully at Kyouya.

The man stayed frozen for a moment and then shuddered in disgust, looking away. 'Never do that again,' he ordered before ducking into the car.

Tsuna wasn't sure if he convinced Kyouya, but the chauffer gestured them over. They all took that as consent and once the bags were loaded into the surprisingly large boot space they pile into the car.

Tsuna was bouncing in his seat next to Kyouya from excitement. He was a fully grown adult, yes, but he was always happy to make new friends. Kyouya's hand comes down on Tsuna's knee and the Decimo stopped moving immediately, instead smiling up at Kyouya.

"Thank you very much, Hibari-san," Tsuna said earnestly. "I know I'm forcing you to go out of your way but thank you for bringing them along. I really think we can be good friends and it would be sad to lose contact after only a train ride."

Hibari glanced sideways and raised an eyebrow. 'I don't know why you bother to speak. I can't understand you anyway.'

Tsuna blinked. "Oh, right. Language difficulties. Never mind." He had actually completely forgotten.

'Listen, bastard,' Hayato began in Mandarin, a light tone to his voice so Tsuna doesn't realise he was insulting Kyouya. 'Tsuna said something so you should damn well listen and be thankful.'

"Wait," Tsuna cut in. "I recognise the word bastard. Hayato, you can't just insult people like that." He frowns in disappointment and then turned to Takeshi. "Tell Hayato to apologise."

Takeshi translated to Korean. Hayato hesitated, but Tsuna requested it of him, so he mumbled an apology. In French, just to be difficult.

Kyouya stared at Hayato for a moment and then looked to Tsuna, ruffling the fluffy hair in approval of the power the brunet had over the herbivore, before immediately going back to staring out of the window.

* * *

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A/N: This is for **DirectSomething** who actually reminded me that this story still exists. Woops.

Next chapter they sign into a hotel so please vote for who you want to share with Tsuna in the poll on my profile. You can also suggest other room sharing if you want. So far Kyouya is winning by a very large margin.

 **Languages:**

Tsuna (Japanese) – Hibari (All Chinese dialects, English) – Hayato (Italian, Universal, English, Mandarin, French. Non-fluent in Russian, Korean, Greek, Spanish. In the process of learning Japanese for Tsuna)

Mukuro (Afrikaans, Italian) – Chrome (Dutch, English) – Lambo (Russian, German, Polish) – Ryohei (German) – Takeshi (Korean. Non-fluent in Japanese)

 **Poll on profile: Pairings?**

All – 43

Kyouya – 42

Reborn – 14

Oblivious – 11

Mukuro – 10

Chrome – 6

None – 6

Hayato – 4

Lambo – 1


End file.
